Historian to Discuss Women's Relationship with the Law

March 6, 2009

OGDEN, Utah – The president of the American History Association's Pacific Coast Branch, Rachel Fuchs, will present "Mothers and Magistrates: Paternity Searches in Modern France" on March 23 at 1 p.m. in the Stewart Library Hetzel-Hoellein Room at Weber State University.

The lecture is in celebration of National Women's History Month and part of the Department of History's spring lecture series.

In 1804, paternity suits were forbidden throughout France by the Napoleonic Code. More than 100 years later, French legislators changed the law to allow paternity suits and placed the burden of proof on women. Fuchs will discuss what was considered proof in a society without DNA testing or blood grouping, and what that says about women's relationship with the law. She also will address the transition from the patriarchal family to the modern 21st Century family.

Fuchs, a Distinguished Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University, is the author of six books, including "Contested Paternity: Constructing Families in Modern France."

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call 801-626-6706.